Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
Some enhancements to improve the game play experience include the addition of haptic feedback to provide an additional form of sensory involvement to the gaming experience. However, many gaming machines use at least one touchscreen to provide some gameplay capabilities, creating particular challenges when considering haptic feedback capability, as it may be undesirable or impossible to provide haptic feedback via the touchscreen. For example, it may be difficult or impossible to vibrate a touchscreen at a high frequency, especially when the touchscreen is large. Additionally, the haptic feedback may not be experienced by the player unless the player is in constant contact with the touchscreen. Therefore, it is highly desirable to enhance the gaming experience by developing a system capable of providing haptic feedback to gaming systems incorporating a touchscreen, without using the touchscreen itself to provide the feedback. Furthermore, it is desirable to have the capability to target the haptic feedback based on the player's positioning in relation to the gaming machine. Aspects of the present disclosure fulfill these and other desires.